KBS Long-Term Ecological Research scientists awarded a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency to study possible climate outcomes. When an unproductive swath of farmland is planted with row crops, it results in environmental damage with little to no yield. Instead, farmers can cultivate native plants in those spaces that improve soil health and support other native species. The USDA Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, offers them financial incentives to do just that. Measuring soil carbon for improved soil health Now, Michigan State
Great Lakes farmers could earn credits for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
KBS LTER research was featured today in the Great Lakes Echo. "Great Lakes farmers who cut their fertilizer use could help reduce greenhouse gases. And if done through a new emissions trading program, they could get other industries to pay them to do it without harming crop yields." Read the full story here >>.
KBS LTER researchers find way for farmers to participate in carbon markets
Via MSU News, news.msu.edu EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers at Michigan State University have helped develop a way for farmers to participate in carbon markets and get paid to reduce their use of nitrogen fertilizer, which represents one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production. The methodology, which was developed for the American Carbon Registry with support from the Electric Power Research Institute, will allow farmers to participate in carbon markets by creating greenhouse gas offsets by reducing the amount of nitrogen used to fertilize crops. T